climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

Anonymous

I know April isn't quite finished, but I'm putting this one up a little early because I have a lot I want to share! The spring weather has me in such a consistently good mood lately. My camera roll is filled with pictures of trees and flowers, which I'm sure will eventually flood my Instagram as well. I also made cute category buttons in my sidebar for your viewing (and clicking) pleasure that I am weirdly proud of.

This time last year, I was in the home stretch of my senior year in college. After four years of essays, assignments, exams, long nights working on the newspaper, and quick mornings slapping presentations together, the stress and heavy workload gave way to cancelled exams, award ceremonies, and celebrations. That last month was one of the happiest times in my life, and I was lucky enough to be graduating with a full-time position already lined up for me.

My job search was a bit delayed, mostly because it was too scary and "adult" for me to think about. It was the classic Maybe if I ignore it, it'll go away... situation. A lot of people I knew were applying to more places than I did, more often than I was. So part of it was luck, stumbling along the right job listing at the right time, but another part, I'd like to think, was me. Anyone could have come across the position, but I got it. I worked hard in college, and I had the qualifications and skills to prove it.

When I had my phone interview for what is now my full-time job, it was my last day on campus. I was pacing around my empty dorm room, the walls completely bare and filled tubs lining the wall. My desk was empty, its surface clear except for a single notepad, where I had scribbled down details for the interview.

I remember being asked something along the lines of, "So you've just graduated college, correct?"

It was surreal, standing in a room that I had spent the past nine months living in, at a school that had been my home for four years, having a conversation that would determine my next steps. Even then, I don't think it felt real. It's strange to think about how that was only a year ago.

For all of you currently in that position, I want to give you my two cents. You may have heard it before, but hopefully it means a little something extra coming from someone who was in your position not too long ago. I know what it's like to be there, to not know what the heck you're doing. It's okay. You'll survive. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

It's Friday, 10 p.m., and I am home alone in bed. To be honest, this is the first Friday I've spent by myself in quite a while. My boyfriend usually stays the night, but tonight it's just me. No obligations, no stress. I'm exhausted from a 12-hour work day, my brain is fried, and I'm running on five hours of sleep. But I'm relaxed. I was wrapped in blankets within fifteen minutes of getting home for the day. I started season 2 of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." I'm happy.

Photo used with permission from @jedidiahjenkins"You can't write something true that you have no experience of."

I'm a newbie when it comes to podcasts, and a friend recommended one to me recently, an episode of The Rich Roll Podcast, that I absolutely adored.

Jedidiah Jenkins: The Pursuit of Wonder,The Power of Story & Finding Truth in Adventure

If you don't know about Jedidiah or his story (I didn't before listening to this), a few years ago, he set out to bike from Oregon to Patagonia, and documented his 16-month journey on Instagram through pictures paired with beautifully written little paragraphs of thoughts as the captions.

That alone is incredible, isn't it? (There's more, but you'll have to go listen.)

I tend to be easily overwhelmed and flustered, more often in my outside-of-work life than my at-work life, ironically enough. When I'm at work, I'm in that work mindset; I'm ready for a long to-do list, and I'm prepared for various tasks to be thrown at me. Outside of work, though, I have a different mindset. After working for 8+ hours, I don't want to feel like I have to do anything else. If there's too much on my plate, I feel stressed, even if it's simple mundane things – laundry, cooking, etc. If something interferes with the plan I had mentally laid out for the day, I can get agitated.

I need time to myself. I need it. I need to work it into my schedule naturally – having an hour or two at the end of the day to be by myself, watch YouTube videos or read a book, relax, unwind, do something that I want... it's essential for me.